V8 Into 1988 Dolphin RV, 22re into 1982 4wd (1 Viewer)

[effjay76]

So, a buddy of mine bought the rv and a 1982 4wd minitruck. We each took the rv on a few trips and realized the 22re wasn’t cutting it, and also thought it would be quite nice in the minitruck, since the 20r was missing. We did a 9 day marathon build over the 4th of July break and here are the results.
Second pic is of the modified crossmember to mate the transmission to the factory crossmember.

 

[effjay76]

The rv was sort of a bolt in swap, it’s using a 700r4 auto trans and a custom driveshaft. We had to lower a crossmember support, lower the sway bar mounts, and make a custom transmission mount to bolt in to the 88 crossmember. But surprisingly smooth otherwise. We pulled the complete rv wiring harness for the 82 and will be re doing the rv with a new wiring harness. So far we have not had to cut or hammer anything on the truck (except the hood)

 

[D21FJ60]

sick! What type of V8 is it?

 

[Mudder]

I'm going to take a guess and say a Chevy 350. I'm excited to see more pictures! I wonder what the MPG is with the v8 in the camper.

 

[SteveH]

This is a complete hoot - great photos. Love the hood scoop, especially on an RV!

 

[effjay76]

Thanks guys. Correct, it’s a Chevy 350 with a 700r4 transmission. We realized the carb was higher than the hood, and the hood scoop was cheaper than a new intake manifold, also way cooler. Currently working on little odds and ends to button it up, rad fan is going to be tricky, will probably run a flex fan. I modified the factory fuel pump pickup to use a mechanical pump.

 

[effjay76]

I'm going to take a guess and say a Chevy 350. I'm excited to see more pictures! I wonder what the MPG is with the v8 in the camper.

It was getting about 12 mpg at 55-65 mph with the 22re so I guess that’s the goal.

 

[effjay76]

Both trucks drove out of the shop. Unfortunately the rv owner changed plans and we will likely be scrapping the rv and pulling the 350 out. The interior is pretty rough, roof leaks have taken a toll on the rv portion. We were throwing around flatbed ideas but can’t really get excited about it. We painted the minitruck along with another buddie’s truck and it is back in Iowa being a garage queen.

 

[effjay76]

 

[BlueCruiser84]

So what’s involved with a 22RE swap into a first gen? Popped it in there and used the 22re cluster and wiring?

I have a 1980 and a 22RE with gauges and complete wiring harness that I’d like to swap in. Seems like the easiest motor swap for fuel injection and “more” power.

 

[pappy]

You don't need to swap the cluster. The gauge senders on the 22RE will work with what you have. I suspect it's a bit more than "pop it in there." You will need to integrate a branch off the engine harness to the dash, a connector off the ECU runs to the dash, install a fuel pump, and a bunch of little stuff. Best thing to do is make sure you have good wiring diagrams for your truck, and for the donor you pull the 22RE from. Not all 22RE are the same, electrically. There was even some evolution on the engine from 1985 to 1995. The harnesses changed year to year. Some of the sensors changed.

 

[effjay76]

So what’s involved with a 22RE swap into a first gen? Popped it in there and used the 22re cluster and wiring?

I have a 1980 and a 22RE with gauges and complete wiring harness that I’d like to swap in. Seems like the easiest motor swap for fuel injection and “more” power.

What pappy said, we got multiple wiring diagram books for both trucks, the aftermarket books like haynes were pretty good, we also had a factory wiring diagram for the rv I believe. We left each cab with it’s respective gauge clusters because they are very different so basically chop wires on the rv harness leaving the gauge connectors and pull the Inter harness. Wiring the 350 is super simple, then connect the right wire to the 22r truck gauges. We had to make a custom crossmember but that was because the owner kind of mix and matched transmissions and transfer cases. It should bolt in if you have a transmission and transfer case already setup. For fuel pump we wanted to use the rv tank but it’s a totally different shape so we ended up going with an external fuel pump connected to the original Tank setup with new hard lines and efi hose.

 

[gnob]

If you have the entire later harness of the later rig just swap the whole thing. Then you are just swapping dash plugs and a couple others. You also get the updated fuse panels.

 

[effjay76]

Exactly what we did. We replaced the harness in the rv with a new generic harness from speedway motors and put the whole thing in the minitruck

 

[effjay76]

Current state of the rv…. Got most of the rv part removed. Now it’s the world’s sketchiest flatbed.